Failed three tests

Summer Days · Sep 18, 2013

What helped me was buying a nclex review book & reading the chapters in there that pertained to the particular system we were covering. Then I took the practice tests. I may be the odd one out, but practice questions help me.

Go this route. I have done my research over the summer. Read the nclex book review for the assigned chapter. I recommend saunders comprehensive nclex rn. It comes with a cd which you can download to your computer. After reading the assigned chapter, do all questions for that chapter from the cd and type all the rationales down. What I have gathered from the Saunders book is that the questions are heavy on assessments (well, the nursing process starts with assessment; get it wrong and the entire process is wrong!). The nclex review books are designed so that you get more out of your reading/studying in less time versus the maint textbooks where you get less out of your reading/studying in more time.

PCTerrific · Sep 18, 2013

Hey! Med-surg is the WORST. Don't feel too bad. Here's what helped me:

1. NCLEX questions with good rationales. I've used the "success" series (med-surg success, etc) for a lot of classes and it has made a big difference in my ability to learn the material. At my school, we get practice ATIs, too, and Saunders, if I really feel I need to brush up on a specific area.

2. I learned first semester to make "study sheets"-- it's the only thing that ended up getting me through pharm. I'd spent a day or two one weekend making notes on everything I would need for the test-- as long as I could fit it on the front and back of one sheet. Spending time arranging it in different colored boxes in powerpoint, highlighting, abbreviating, and editing it down to fit really helps me learn. Alternatively, I'd write it out on two columns on a piece of graph paper. It may sound weird, but just getting the material condensed really made me have to think about what I absolutely didn't know, and made me interact with the material. Plus, it was all on two sheets, so I could picture exactly where it was on that sheet when the test came.

3, Know your patho and your lab values! Patho has saved my butt so many times. For example, the heart and it's pathologies. I just saw an NCLEX SATA question on the difference signs between left and right HF symptoms. That's pretty straightforward-- where does it back up? What is downstream? What is upstream? That saves a lot of memorization. Same thing with lab values-- know what they should be, and know what it means when they are too high or too low: Where is that electrolyte found? What does it do? Who controls it? If you need quick refresher, the book "pathophysiology made ridiculously simple" really helped me, and it's on amazon.

4, Don't overthink! Many of the principles are pretty straightforward: ABCs. Life before limb. When in distress, assess! Similarly, don't change answers unless you REALLY, 400% know you made a mistake, and know why.

5. Cross out what you know is WRONG. You can usually get it down to 2 answers. From there, go back to patho and principles.

6. Accept that you just. can't. learn. everything. When studying, there are some things I just give up trying to know at that moment. It would be great if I could memorize the recommended weight gain per trimester in pregnancy, but, frankly, that's not my biggest worry. That's will be something I pick up when I'm working, or I'll look up-- nothing terrible will happen if I can't tell you off the top of my head what it is. Knowing what variable deceles mean? More important to me. Of course, you may still get tested on the stuff you decided to skip over, but, in my opinion, better to know the important 70% COLD than know 90% barely.

7. Use clinical time to learn. If you CARE for a patient with a disease, you're much more likely to remember it. Tell the instructor that you'd love to work with a renal patient if you are struggling with stuff on the kidneys. Or, ask for a preceptor who likes to teach, and then ask LOTS of questions.

8. YouTube is a great resource if you are a visual learner. There are lots of good things about different diseases and different skills on it. I'm not a visual learner, but I still need to turn to it from time to time when things just are not making sense. Some of this stuff you need to see, period.

I promise, it is worth it! I'm sorry the people in your program are not being helpful...that's so tough. But, it's really their loss, in the end-- one of my best friends in school isnt a great test taker (though she is really smart and will make a great nurse!), but she knows it, and she works really hard. She really thinks about everything, and takes the time to understand it, and asks great questions. I feel lucky to get to learn from her. Nursing school sucks like that-- some people are just bad test takers but wonderful learners and students, and some people are good test takers and coast along not caring.

springchick1, ADN, RN · Sep 18, 2013

Wow your classmates are rude!! Study groups should be a team effort not cliques. Find some better people to work with, or go to your instructors. They will def help you with ways to help you study:)[/quote']
I don't think that's rude. I'm in a study group that was formed 3 semesters ago. We don't let any other people in our group for a couple of reasons:
1. We've been studying tog where or 3 semesters and we know what works and what doesn't work for us.
2. We have a scheduled time, every week, that we meet. When others start coming, they want to try and change he day or the time.
3. Any more than the few that we have and things will get off topic, quickly.
We aren't being rude, we just know what works and what doesn't work for us.

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Sep 19, 2013

Here is how I study. I take notes during class. I then come home and organize them onto index cards which I make into Flash Cards. I got over them every day. When I am going through the flash cards I talk it out loud to myself. That may sound weird, but when I talk it through to myself I seem to understand it better. Fortunately my son is either in school or with his dad so I have the house to myself to talk to myself. :wacky:

PCTerrific · Sep 19, 2013

We aren't being rude, we just know what works and what doesn't work for us.

You've got a good point; I guess the culture around study groups varies by program. My school really stresses group work, so we're used to switching around for various projects with different people and it doesn't seem to get too clique-y when it comes to study time (we're also a cohort of 50, so that helps, too).

Would a peer be up for reviewing with you one-on-one? I never mind going over some specific material with someone if I understand it-- studies show that teaching someone is the best way to learn the material yourself! Also, does your program share notes? One thing I love about my classmates is everyone shares that they get-- notes from the old cohorts, summaries they have made, charts about meds, etc. Having someone boil down the material can be a huge timesaver (but of course, you need to do your bit, too, to make it fair!).